By Kay Cox
Review Writer
These sisters related their story to me upon returning to Adrian to visit their Uncle, Norbert Mormann who was very ill. Norbert passed away on April 19th. Both Mary and Marilyn returned to attend his funeral.
It was a chance meeting of three people who have ties in Adrian!
In March, two sisters, Mary and Marilyn, boarded a plane in Denver bound for Phoenix. There were two seats available in the back of the plane next to a gentleman. They smiled and spoke to the gentleman as they settled in their seats. Mary said to him “You sure look familiar. Are you related to any Sullivan or Mormann?” (Mormann was their maiden name…) He said no. After about two minutes of visiting with each other he said to Marilyn, “You both sure seem to get along well.” They said yes they were close and had a lot of fun together. The sisters proceeded to tell him that they, along with a brother, were triplets. He seemed a nice man, so they told him that their mom had been on the 1950’s TV show “Queen for a Day” With five kids in diapers at home, and a husband who had lost an arm in a corn picking accident the year of their birth, their mom was chosen as the lucky winner!
The gentleman looked at them both and remarked, “Do you remember how Paul Harvey said “….and now you know the rest of the story?” Well he had a surprise for them. He told the sisters that his father had delivered them and their brother, in Adrian MN, in 1957!!! This nice gentleman sitting next to them was Mark Nealy (Woodbury, MN), his father being Dr. Don Nealy. Dr Don had delivered the three triplets on November 6, 1957. Mark was only 14 years old at the time, but he had never forgotten it. Triplets were very rare back then. The ladies sitting next to Mark Nealy were Mary (Mormann) Sullivan, and Marilyn (Mormann) Jahnke, both from Tomah, WI. Their brother Mark Mormann also lives in Wisconsin. Small World!!
So many things worked to make this reunion possible, the plane was overbooked and the girls almost gave up their seats, Mark and his wife usually went to Phoenix in the fall but because of medical reasons did not go until March of this year.
What a great story!! How this happened only God knows!
